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Photo courtesy of Aimee Thornton.
(front, L to R) Patriot Senior Singers members Ned O’Brien, Kristin Majercik ,Hazel Turner, Joan Whitaker (rear, L to R) Betty Mann, Juanita Waters, Karen Ohlman and Jake Pflasterer.
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Photo courtesy of Aimee Thornton.
(L to R) Patriot Senior Singers members Jake Pflasterer, Charlie Bearden and C.W. Jovaras.
For an audience of over 730 people at Boutwell Auditorium, Homewood’s Patriot Senior Singers performed on May 9.
The occasion was a senior celebration organized annually in conjunction with the state’s senior nutrition program, and the Patriot Singers were invited to close the program by sharing a half-hour of music. Under the direction of Carol Downey, the Singers presented selections that included patriotic, folk, spiritual and love songs, as well as a couple from movie musicals. Two members of the chorus, Ned O’Brien and Ruth Fields, were featured as soloists.
An earlier spring concert was presented for 20 assisted living residents at Brookdale University Park Retirement Community. For that program, female chorus members donned colorful Easter hats that they had decorated themselves, while the men wore boutonnieres made with tulip buds and clover. As the group sang “Easter Parade,” they circulated through the audience to distribute clip-on butterfly mementos.
Chorus member Jean Franks says participating in the group helps keep her 92 years young and provides fellowship, an opportunity to encourage peers to shine and a means for sharing her joy of life with others through song.
The Patriot Singers welcome interested adults to join them. You must be at least 55 years of age, but the current age range of chorus members is 65 to 92. Rehearsals are held at Homewood Senior Center on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. for an hour.
Senior Center membership is a pre-requisite and is open to residents as well as non-residents of Homewood. Chorus is just one among many varieties of activities offered throughout the week. To find out more, call the center at 332-6500, email director Aimee Thornton at aimee.thornton@homewoodal.org, or view the activities calendar at homewoodparks.com/recreation/homewood-senior-center-recreation/senior-center-events-calendar/.
Submitted by Aimee Thornton.
